Conservatism can be seen to be a ‘philosophy if imperfection’ according to O’Sullivan. This idea is manifested in their pessimistic view of human nature advocating Tradition, Pragmatism and Paternalism. As Burke states society should be ‘a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are born’ which clearly shows support of the status quo otherwise change and uncertainty can lead to disruption.
The first strand of imperfection according to Conservativism is psychological as psychologically humans are limited and fear isolation and instability so they very much seek the safe and familiar ‘knowing their place. ’ If they do not have stability then it could lead to ‘anomie’ as proposed my French sociologist Durkheim where people feel a sense of normlessness and isolation everything being meaningless. So liberty is constrained to maintain social order as opposed to freedom being epitomized in people as utility maximizers according to liberals.
Therefore social order in put in place to provide certainty in an uncertain world. The second strand of imperfection according to Conservativism is moral as immoral or criminal behavior is deep-rooted in the individual. There is a ‘power after power’ conception according to Hobbes with human beings drive consisting of physical prosperity, power and avoidance of deprivation and doing anything they can to maintain or maximize these basic appetites so people cannot be trusted and crime is based on the consequence of human instincts.
The Essay on Human Nature and Power
During the Renaissance, many brilliant philosophers have explored the concept of human nature. The question, what motivates humanity has been taken into consideration in the composure of virtually every society. By establishing that premise, many went on to create an ideal society with the intention of developing that thought. Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas More are outstanding representatives ...
So it leads to the idea of people behaving in a civilized way if they are deterred by a firm government putting a tough criminal justice system so there is an invisible amalgamation of law and order with the role of law preserving order and morality. The third strand of imperfection according to Conservatism is intellectual as the world is too complex for human reason to grasp fully. So the idea is that the world is ‘boundless and bottomless’ being beyond out capacity to comprehend.
This subsequently leads to the idea that we should form ideas around a paradigm of tradition, experience and history without considering abstract ideas and systems as ‘rights of man’ and ‘social justice’ lead to reformation of the world which could lead to suffering. So ‘the cure is not worse than the disease’ as opposed to Liberals and Socialists who desire changes or revolutions based on the extensive rationality that human beings possess. The New Right has weakened the ideas of tradition as they were principled with a clear vision based on privatization and deregulation ‘selling off the family silver. ’
